Zvečaj castle

Last updated
Zvečaj castle
Donji Zvečaj
Croatia
Zvecaj 1893.png
Zvečaj castle in the late 19th century
Croatia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Zvečaj castle
Coordinates 45°23′40″N15°26′05″E / 45.39444°N 15.43472°E / 45.39444; 15.43472 Coordinates: 45°23′40″N15°26′05″E / 45.39444°N 15.43472°E / 45.39444; 15.43472 [1] [ better source needed ]
TypeCastle
Site information
Ownerprivate [1]
Open to
the public		Yes [1]
ConditionRuins
Site history
Builtmentioned XIV
Built byTomašić family
MaterialsLimestone

Zvečaj (pronounced  [zʋeːt͡ʃaj] ) is a medieval ruined castle located on the left bank of the Mrežnica river in modern Karlovac county, Croatia. Around it formed an eponymous village, today separated into upper and lower. It has a rectangular floorplan, with a central tower. It survived in good condition much longer than most castles in the region. [2]

Mrežnica river in Karlovac County, Croatia

The Mrežnica is a river in Karlovac County, Croatia. It is 63 kilometres (39 mi) long and its basin covers an area of 64 square kilometres (25 sq mi).

Croatia Republic in Central Europe

Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia is a country at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the southeast, sharing a maritime border with Italy. Its capital, Zagreb, forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, along with twenty counties. Croatia has an area of 56,594 square kilometres and a population of 4.28 million, most of whom are Roman Catholics.

Contents

Geography

The castle is located about 6 km down the old road from Duga Resa. It is near a rock quarry. [1] The parish church in the 1334 ecclesiastical census was Sv. Juraj in Grabrje across the river from the castle, but that parish vanished, and in the 15th century, the parish church of Sv. Ivan, which still exists, and includes inscriptions from the years 1526, 1587, and 1687, was founded. Radoslav Lopašić infers from the inscriptions and the fact that the Church had been abandoned for 30 years in a 1558 document, that the year inscriptions are years of rebuilding. [2]

Duga Resa Town in Karlovac, Croatia

Duga Resa is a town in Karlovac County, Croatia. It is located about 65 km southwest of Zagreb and 100 km east of Rijeka.

Radoslav Lopašić Croatian historian and topographer

Radoslav Lopašić (1830—1893) was a Croatian historian and member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts.

History

A 1639 military sketch of the castle. Zvecaj 1639.png
A 1639 military sketch of the castle.

Zvečaj in its early days had its own nobility, originally using the name "od Grabrja" (1334), but later changing it to "od Zvečaja" (1414, 1441) or Zvečaji. Around Zvečaj there lived a number of other low noble families: Tolići, Babinogorci, and Zubci. The last Zvečaj to be lord of the castle was Ivan, who married Katica, the daughter of Nikola Benvenjuda, lord of Skrad, who is mentioned as a widow in 1481. Upon the death of Ivan Zvečaj, the castle and surrounding lands were given to Nikola Frankopan Ozaljski by king Matthias Corvinus. [2]

Skrad (castle)

Skrad (pronounced [skraːd] is a medieval ruined castle located on the right bank of the Korana river in modern Karlovac County, Croatia. It overlooks the river gorge from a small hill at the end of a larger hill, whose height above sea level is 430 m. It is roughly triangular in plan, and once included 6 towers, a church, and a number buildings, though today very little rises above grass-level. It was one of the larger castles in the region, though not quite as large as Modruše or Cetin.

Matthias Corvinus King of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Austria

Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I, was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and adopted the title Duke of Austria in 1487. He was the son of John Hunyadi, Regent of Hungary, who died in 1456. In 1457, Matthias was imprisoned along with his older brother, Ladislaus Hunyadi, on the orders of King Ladislaus the Posthumous. Ladislaus Hunyadi was executed, causing a rebellion that forced King Ladislaus to flee Hungary. After the King died unexpectedly, Matthias's uncle Michael Szilágyi persuaded the Estates to unanimously proclaim Matthias king on 24 January 1458. He began his rule under his uncle's guardianship, but he took effective control of government within two weeks.

In 1474, upon the death of Nikola Frankopan's son Bartol, that branch left their heritage to Stjepan Frankopan Modruški, his son Bernardin Frankopan, and his grandson Stjepan Frankopan Ozaljski. In 1558, the castle was pillaged together with the rest of the possessions of Stjepan Ozaljski, yet it had already been abandoned as a result of the Ottoman wars. There were only 38 "sela" (which in medieval times meant a house and its dependencies) in the domain of Zvečaj left. The region btwn the Mrežnica and the Korana was found to be completely abandoned. In 1580, after a legal feud following the death of Stjepan Ozaljski regarding his controversial will, which left his property to the Zrinski family while there was still a branch of the House of Frankopan left, the castle of Zvečaj, together with Novi Vinodolski and Severin, fell to the brothers Frankopan Tržački. In December 1598, a Turkish army 5000 strong hid in ambush near Zvečaj, Juraj Lenković heard about the force, but underestimated its size. He took a smaller army, and when they met, the Turkish army pushed Lenković's back, and many drowned in the Mrežnica, and Stjepan Blagaj was beheaded, ending his family's male line, though Lenković and his men managed to escape, having been in the rear. In 1608, when the brothers divided their property, Zvečaj and Novi went to Vuk. In 1670, after Fran Krsto Frankopan was imprisoned as a result of the Magnate conspiracy, the castle was looted by the army of Karlovac. The Frankopan line died out with the death of Fran Krsto in 1671. [2]

Bernardin Frankopan Croatian nobleman, diplomat and soldier

Bernardin Frankopan (1453–1529) was a Croatian nobleman, diplomat, warrior and patron, a member of the Frankopan noble family, very powerful and influential in the Croatian Kingdom. As a rich and distinguished aristocrat, he had one of the leading roles in defence of Croatian people and state against the massive Ottoman expansion.

The Ottoman wars in Europe were a series of military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and various European states dating from the Late Middle Ages up through the early 20th century. The earliest conflicts began during the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, waged in Anatolia in the late 13th century before entering Europe in the mid 14th century, followed by the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars and the Serbian–Ottoman wars waged beginning in the mid 14th century. Much of this period was characterized by Ottoman expansion into the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire made further inroads into Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, culminating in the peak of Ottoman territorial claims in Europe.

Zrinski family noble family

Zrinski was a Croatian-Hungarian noble family, influential during the period in history marked by the Ottoman wars in Europe in the Kingdom of Hungary and Croatia and in the later Austro-Hungarian Empire. Notable members of this family were Bans of Croatia, considered national heroes in both Croatia and Hungary, and were particularly celebrated during the period of romanticism; this movement was called Zrinijada in Croatian.

The castle was destroyed in 1777 for the construction of the Josephina. [2] Upon the ruins of the castle walls now sits a private house, built from the its stones. All that remains are the walls themselves and parts of the tower. [1] In 2001, the surrounding village had 226 inhabitants, [3] in 74 families. [4]

Josephina (road) Croatian historic road

The Josephina is a historic road in Croatia that connects Senj and thus the Adriatic coast and Karlovac and the Pannonian plain. It crosses the Dinaric Alps via the Vratnik pass between Senj and Brinje and the Kapela Pass between Brinje and Modruš.

See also

The military history of Croatia encompasses wars, battles and all military actions fought on the territory of modern Croatia and the military history of the Croat people regardless of political geography.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Lako, Udruga (4 May 2017). "Zvečaj". lako.com.hr. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Lopašić, Radoslav (1895). Oko Kupe i Korane [Around the Kupa and the Korana] (in Croatian). Zagreb: Matica Hrvatska. pp. 318–324.
  3. ↑ https://www.dzs.hr/Hrv/censuses/Census2001/Popis/H01_01_03/H01_01_03.html
  4. ↑ https://www.dzs.hr/Hrv/censuses/Census2001/Popis/H02_01_02/H02_01_02.html
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